| By :
William Gabriel
It is common these days to see busy workers in most businesses wearing an identification card at their waist as they complete the day's tasks. Management in many organizations has seen the need to provide additional security in their facilities and have chosen to go the route of identification cards to help provide the security needed in today's world. Significant benefits can be found in having employees with identification cards. Access control, financial transactions, tracking, and other benefits have combined together to make ID badges an economically smart thing to do. Organizations are faced with the need to produce a high quality card quickly that will provide a solution for a multiple number of needs. A diverse number of options are available in the marketplace. The common way to print an ID card is the direct to card (DTC) print. This card printing has been the standard for the past few years. The image is burnt directly on to the card in full color based on the instructions provided by the ID card software used. The panels of the ribbon each pass over the card and the correct amount of color is placed in exactly the right spot to create clear images and a fairly stable card in a matter of less than a minute. The newest method of ID card printing is the retransfer printing. This is an optimal printing solution on an ID card printer for high image quality results that highly secure cards require. Fast, flexible and affordable, this printing offers quality beyond the capabilities of DTC printing. The Fargo printer, the HDP5000 uses this method of printing. Retransfer printing is a two step printing process. First, the image is printed in reverse on to a clear panel designed to receive the image. The printer then uses pressure and heat to thermally transfer the image and the film onto the surface of the plastic card. The image resided in the card underneath a clear top coat that thermally bonds to the surface of the card. This type of printing eliminates the problems that some have with the plastic cards. Not all cards are perfectly smooth. With the DTC printing, sometimes the print head ribbon and card surface to not always line up smoothly on every area of the card. The transfer of the image may not be perfect with the DTC method of printing, but the retransfer provides the capability of seeing the entire image on the card even if the surface is not perfect. The retransfer printing also offers an over the edge print. This gives users access to the entire surface of the card while DTC printing cannot print over the edge and often a white border left around the image detracts from the look of the completed card. With business theft on the rise, businesses must take precautions to secure their assets. The transfer film in the retransfer process is a natural in fraud protection. The film easily shows if there has been any tampering with the card. The transfer film is not easily repaired and so it provides a fool proof method of authenticity.
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